Umpires refuse to sanction Josh Naylor's genius for Mariners in ALCS Game 7

When you're trying to get your team to the first World Series in its history, you do everything you can to gain every possible advantage. Just ask Josh Naylor, who literally put himself in the line of fire early in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

After he had driven in Julio Rodríguez with an RBI single to give the Seattle Mariners a 1-0 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning, Naylor found himself running to second base on a one-out ground ball up the middle by Jorge Polanco. And then he found himself leaping into the throw to first base from Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement.

And it worked... at least until it didn't. After initially ruling Polanco safe at first base, the umpiring crew got together and ruled that Naylor had interfered. As a result, both he and Polanco were out, and the inning was over.

As Game 7 is still ongoing, it's impossible to say exactly how large this play will loom over the final outcome. Mariners fans, though, have every right to wonder "What if?" and, more to the point: Did the Mariners get screwed?

The short answer is no, at least according to the letter of the law. Here's what the rulebook has to say about interference on the basepaths, as passed along by Jon Morosi of MLB Network:

Naylor was out on the play as soon as Clement touched second base, so he wasn't allowed to "hinder or impede" the play after that. And even if he did turn his back in a quasi-defensive maneuver, he still deliberately put himself in the way of Clement's throw to first base.

Mariners fans shouldn't fault Josh Naylor for trying something different

Even if the outcome isn't what Naylor wanted, it's hard to blame him for shooting his shot in that situation. If you're already out and the probability of a double play is as high as it seemed in that moment, you might as well take the pain and see if the umps cut you a break.

Especially, that is, after what happened to the Mariners in Game 6. As much as their three errors in the field hurt them, even more damaging were the double plays they grounded into in three straight innings against Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage. Two of them ended one-out, bases-loaded rallies.

Say what you will about Naylor, but the dude is a capital-B, capital-P Baseball Player. He's a quality hitter and defender, and his play in Game 7 adds a whole new wrinkle to how his baserunning genius far exceeds his baserunning speed.

Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners' president of baseball operations, has spoken openly about wanting to keep Naylor as a free agent this winter. Given all they've seen, Seattle fans aren't about to fight him on that.